Essence Devouring Art

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

High in the sky, astral winds boomed and sonic waves crashed like a tide. The landscape on the ground blurred and receded at incredible speed.

Empowered by his Dapeng Wings and the rotation of his Magnetic Field,

Wu Dao’s speed was immense. He was like a meteor streaking across the firmament—one moment a speck on the horizon, the next, gone from sight.

As he tore through the air at extreme speed,

information about the Rat Race churned in his mind.

The Rat Race.

One of the former Five Immortal Families of the South Border.

When the Demon Suppression Emperor scoured the mortal realm of demons and monsters, they had escaped the purge, lying dormant in dark places to recuperate.

Six or seven hundred years had passed.

Their reappearance now meant they had surely recovered and were looking to stir up trouble.

The Rat Race was somewhat different from other Demon Races. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

To be specific,

one followed the path of elites,

while the other followed the path of swarming.

The Rat Race had no Ancestral Land or progenitor in the traditional sense.

This was because their numbers were simply too vast.

They loved to proliferate, breeding with abandon, their bloodlines scattered all across the mortal realm.

Each region had its own patriarchs.

In a matter of years, or perhaps decades, one could become the king of tens or even hundreds of thousands of rats and raise a massive clan of its own, with no need to live at the mercy of other demons.

Unless they were of a direct family bloodline,

any others were considered Alien Species in the eyes of a Rat King—rulers of a different name, not true kin.

For this reason,

during the Warring States Era, the Rat Race had been the most difficult clan to deal with. It was impossible to land a fatal blow, and they were truly inexhaustible.

At the same time, the harm they caused was also the greatest.

Their vast population meant they needed to support countless common subjects. They would often resort to a "sea of rats" tactic, swarming like locusts and devouring everything in an area until nothing was left.

The consequences?

At best, it led to mass famine and rampant plagues. At worst, both people and livestock would be eaten, turning the entire land into a dead zone.

This branch of the Rat Race in Linqing County was far from ordinary.

After all,

the Overlord Whale Alliance’s Wanshan Sub-Alliance

had five Innate Grandmaster Primordial Demons permanently stationed there, with hundreds of Cocoon-Breaking Level cultivators under them.

A force of this magnitude

should be able to sweep away anything below the Land Immortal Level.

But the reality was,

they were trapped in Linqing County, and urgent reports even said they were on the verge of collapse.

’A Land Immortal?’

’Or a group of thousand-year-old Great Demons?’

Tsk.

Wu Dao licked his lips, anticipation building within him, and couldn’t help but accelerate again.

...

「Linqing County.」

At this moment, it had been transformed into a cavernous Abyss.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky.

A bloody light shot skyward from the Abyss, where fiery furnaces blazed and a black sea of rats churned amidst the cacophony of battle cries.

All of the Overlord Whale Alliance’s Primordial Demons at the Divine Power Realm and above from Wanshan Prefecture had rushed over. The two sides were locked in a brutal battle within the Abyss, which resembled a meat grinder.

Overall, however,

the Overlord Whale Alliance was at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t because of a Land Immortal Level Great Demon—a being of that caliber would have swept them away no matter how many people they had.

The main reason was that

the Rat Race had too many kings. This abyssal rat kingdom concealed a total of three Innate Rat Kings!

The largest of them, the Red Mouse King,

was even at the Innate Second Step!

The Overlord Whale Alliance only had five Innate First Step Grandmasters holding the line, and even by joining forces, they could only deal with the Red Mouse King.

Although the Dragon Whale Dominating Body compensated for the gap between humans and demons at the same level, the disparity in high-level combat power still put the Overlord Whale Alliance at a disadvantage.

The two unopposed Innate Rat Kings

completely tied down the remaining Broken Cocoon Primordial Demons of the Overlord Whale Alliance. If not for relying on an Immortal Dao Array to hold their ground, they would have been slaughtered immediately.

As for the newly transformed Rat Generals,

they, in turn, tied down the Overlord Whale Alliance’s most numerous forces—the Divine Power Primordial Demons.

This battle

had been unequal from the very beginning.

However,

the Overlord Whale Alliance was not fighting alone.

After Prince Nanyang unified the Nine Prefectures,

although most of his armies had been deployed to the front lines, some important rear areas still had garrisons.

The counties surrounding Linqing County were relatively prosperous and held a special status, so naturally, a unit of elite troops was stationed there.

RUMBLE—

Just as the Overlord Whale Alliance was gradually losing ground,

a thunderous sound of marching erupted from the distant land, accompanied by the clang of armor.

The wind and snow raged, and banners snapped in the gale.

Besides Prince Nanyang’s Black Dragon King Banner, a large number of white wolf banners on a black background could also be seen.

The Snow Wolf Camp, stationed by the Nanyang Prince’s Mansion across several counties including Linqing, had arrived.

Chen Ao, a Captain of the Snow Wolf Camp, was the first to reach the Abyss. He wielded a gleaming Great Halberd, his battle armor clanging. A shroud of Soldier Qi enveloped him, marking him as a Grandmaster of the Military Dao.

The moment he saw the mountain-like, sea-like swarm of rats below and the rampaging, house-sized Rat Kings,

"Vile beasts! Form ranks and charge with me!"

A murderous light flared in Chen Ao’s eyes. With a thunderous roar, he directed his army without a second thought, his Great Halberd churning with baleful energy, ready to charge in and quell the demons.

"Stand down!!"

But just then,

a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the horizon, echoing between heaven and earth. An immense, domineering pressure swept over them, causing the sea of rats in the Abyss to tremble in fear.

’Who is that?’

The terrifying pressure made the hair on Chen Ao’s entire body stand on end.

He instinctively looked back at the sky and saw a fiery, electric meteor shatter the darkness, descending above the Abyss in the blink of an eye.

’Is it human or demon?’

Chen Ao stared at the horrifying Fierce Beast high in the sky. It resembled a dragon, a kun, and a peng, standing nearly fifteen zhang tall. Its magnificent, Heaven-Supporting Physique was so oppressive that the void around it continuously warped. He felt the very blood in his veins freeze.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK—"

Within the Abyss,

the several Rat Kings of varying fur colors, who had been dominating the battlefield with their ferocious might, now had their fur standing on end, as if they had encountered a predator beyond even the top of the food chain.

’Wife, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law... Run!’

The short-tailed, red-furred Great King, under Wu Dao’s oppressive presence, was so terrified its gallbladder nearly burst. It sent a message via its bloodline connection and then took off, sprinting madly into the depths of the Abyss.

"Hahaha, the Alliance Leader is here! You think you can run? Die!"

"The Alliance Leader’s Magical Power is boundless and his Divine Power is infinite! You dared to offend the Overlord Whale Alliance—no one in heaven or on earth can save you now!"

"Wu Dao?"

Within the Abyss,

the Primordial Demons’ faces flushed red as they howled like they were on stimulants. At the edge of the Abyss, however, Chen Zhan’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly ordered his troops to fall back.

This Evil God’s reputation for madness was well-known throughout the army.

When he started fighting,

if he went berserk and they got caught in the crossfire, it would be a true disaster out of nowhere.

But he was overthinking it.

They were just a few tiny Innate ants.

Why would Wu Dao need to go berserk for them?

’No, wait. When have I ever gone berserk?’

"How many hundreds of generations is this?"

Standing in the sky, Wu Dao was momentarily surprised by the sight of the tide-like sea of rats in the Abyss. The total number of rats he had seen in two lifetimes wasn’t even a fraction of what was in this nest.

Hm?

’Trying to run?!’

In the next instant,

seeing the Rat Kings and Rat Generals begin to flee, Wu Dao gave a chilling smile. Without any earth-shattering display of power, he simply reached a massive hand down toward the Abyss below.

’The True Intent of my Thunder Punishment Dominating Whale Fist has just taken form.’

’I’ll use you all for practice!’

RUMBLE—

As Wu Dao’s hand reached out,

the very heavens above the Abyss transformed. Countless bolts of destructive lightning exploded, surged, and roared, converging into an overlapping, four-sided sea of purple lightning that enveloped the entirety of Linqing County.

"Is this... Fourth Floor True Intent?"

Chen Ao felt the world-judging, unrivaled domineering will press down like an overturning ocean. When he looked again at Wu Dao, who appeared like a descending Thunder God in the center of the Thunder Sea, his blood ran cold.

The battle at Luotou Mountain a short while ago

had been a hot topic of discussion within Prince Nanyang’s faction.

The military naturally had records of the specific strength of Wu Dao, who had shone so brightly in that battle.

Putting aside everything else,

his Third Floor True Intent of the Fist Dao was astonishing enough.

But how much time had passed since then?

Ten days!

’He’s at Fourth Floor True Intent!’

Moreover, the Mighty Power of this True Intent was incomparable to the Dominating Whale Fist Intent from the battle at Luotou Mountain.

It had clearly undergone a transformation, condensing and fusing with the Might of Celestial Thunder. Its lethality, whether to a living being’s body or soul, was utterly terrifying.

’This cultivation speed, this talent...’

’A monster!’

’A true monster!’

Chen Ao’s expression was dazed. He felt as if Wu Dao wasn’t even from the same world as them. So-called geniuses weren’t even worthy of carrying Wu Dao’s shoes.

"BOOM! CRACKLE-POP!"

While Chen Ao was still in shock,

the sound of Celestial Thunder being unleashed rang out.

Wu Dao had already made his move.

Within the four seas of lightning covering the Abyss, thunder whales galloped and roared, unleashing countless purple lightning bolts. As if equipped with guidance systems, the bolts locked onto every Rat King, Rat General, and countless ordinary rats, striking down fiercely.

"BANG BANG BANG—"

Instantly, the entire Abyss was submerged in purple Thunderbolt. The lightning, carrying an unparalleled Mighty Power that could destroy both body and soul, instantly blasted countless rats into flying ash.

Those with edible value fared slightly better.

Under Wu Dao’s precise control, only their bodies and souls were destroyed, leaving their Demon Pills behind.

As for those without Demon Pills,

Wu Dao couldn’t be bothered with their meager flesh. Eating a hundred of them wouldn’t compare to a single breath of Heaven and Earth Energy. He blasted them all into ash, leaving not even dregs behind.

"SQUEAK—"

Celestial Thunder struck and lightning surged.

The entire Abyss had become a slaughterhouse. One after another, Rat Kings and Rat Generals wailed in despair, only to be annihilated the next instant, leaving only Demon Pills to clatter to the ground.

’Wife, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother... Damn you, human! I, the Red Rat King, will not let this rest!!’

The king of this Rat Race branch, the short-tailed red rat, dodged and weaved through the Thunderbolt, its body charred black, its heart filled with grief and indignation.

It seared Wu Dao’s figure in the sky into its mind as it ’dodged’ countless bolts of lightning, its form disappearing into the far end of the Abyss.

But what it didn’t know was,

while it thought it had escaped with its life, it had actually been the brightest little cub in Wu Dao’s Sea of Consciousness the entire time. Like a white dot on a radar screen, it was always under his surveillance.

The descendants of the Rat Race are endless.

Once descendants matured, they would leave their parents with their siblings or alone to venture out and establish their own clans.

The reason Wu Dao let the Red Rat King escape

was to follow the vine to get the melon—to drag out all eighteen generations of its ancestors and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

With the previous strikes of Celestial Thunder,

Wu Dao had already placed a Primordial Magnetic Mark on the Red Rat King. Its detection range was even wider than his Spiritual Perception.

With the Red Rat King’s paltry thousand years of cultivation,

it had no hope of escaping from the palm of his hand.

RUMBLE—

A few breaths later,

not a single rat remained in the Abyss—only a ground full of ash.

The sea of electricity dissipated, and the thunder whales vanished.

Dealing with these small fry barely took any effort; it was a matter of a single basic attack.

""The Alliance Leader is mighty and invincible!""

The Primordial Demons gazed at Wu Dao as he descended from the sky, roaring themselves hoarse, the fanaticism in their eyes almost taking physical form.

Wu Dao glanced over the Primordial Demons’ condition.

He saw that they had lost some at the Divine Power Realm and sustained some casualties at the Cocoon-Breaking Level, but the numbers weren’t high. It was acceptable.

As for the rest,

most had suffered injuries of varying severity.

But it was a trivial matter.